By Ceedor Teto Roberts
BUCHANAN CITY-Liberia Government Hospital in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County has, for the first time, received a neonatal nurse care unity from central government and partner. Dr. Nuntia K. Gbanlon Nuahn of the Ministry of Health made the presentation on Friday, November 22, 2024 on behalf of the government.
During the presentation, Dr. Nuahn narrated that the Ministry through the government has deemed it necessary to help reduce neonatal mortality rate in Grand Bassa County.
She said the neonatal unit has the capacity to accommodate ten infants at once for proper health care, adding, the Government Hospital in Buchanan is the first public health facility in the fifteen counties to have neonatal unit. Dr. Nuahn named incubator, infant warming monitor, etc as equipment set up at the hospital for saving babies lives.
She mentioned that the Ministry of Health is working hard to reduce neonatal mortality death of children during delivery, stating that every one thousand children or infants that are born, thirty-seven of them die.
Dr. Nuahn clarified that babies place in the neonatal care are infants born with complications or babies that face difficulties in breathing.
Receiving the vital medical equipment, citizens of Grand Bassa who converged at the hospital in their numbers, extended thanks and appreciation to the government and its partner for the donation. The citizens promised to work with the hospital administration to maintain the neonatal care unit.
Neonatal care is the type of care a baby born premature or sick receives in a neonatal unit within the hospital. It mainly provides care for babies soon after they are born and is often between 28 days of life.
January 18, 2024 UNICEF’s data on neonatal mortality rate in Liberia: 23 deaths per 1,000 live births. In rural areas is 31 deaths per 1,000 live births and 37 deaths per 1,000 live births in urban areas for an urban-to-rural ratio of 1.2.2 NMR≠ among the poorest households is 38 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 32 deaths per 1,000 live births among the richest households
